What are the best electronic picture frames for 2021?
Pix-Star’s 10 & 15-inch frames stand out as some of the best electronic picture frames on the market at the moment. Their intuitive interfaces, classy aesthetic, robust feature set, and versatility make them excellent choices for modern homes and families. Features like Wi-Fi let you send & receive pictures & other media from anywhere in the world. Free-for-life cloud storage safe-keeps all of your pictures automatically and can be remotely controlled via the web dashboard.
Pix-Star’s extensive Wi-Fi connectivity enables loads of handy secondary features like viewing the weather, setting alerts & reminders, listening to web radio & music, and remotely controlling any connected Pix-Star frame from anywhere in the world. These features boost the Pix-Star frame’s usability for families and elderly users without sacrificing versatility for individual or more advanced users.
Unlike many other top electronic frames like the Skylight or Nixplay, Pix-Star’s frames don’t charge any additional or recurring fees. Other top frames tend to charge extra annual or monthly fees for cloud storage (or expanding cloud storage), use of the mobile app/web dashboard, video support & playback, and other features. All of these are offered for free with Pix-Star – and to a greater extent. You get free-for-life cloud storage, video support, an intuitive mobile app, access to the web dashboard, and more.
Pix-Star’s frames can be grouped into multi-frame control groups. Here you can manage their settings, storage, slideshows, and much more. You can remotely access and manage the frame to start slideshows, make changes to both local & cloud storage, adjust the display or frame settings, and much more. It’s a versatile and simple way to control any connected frame – and an especially useful feature for families and those with elderly users that want to be more involved. Learn more about the best digital photo frames of 2021 here!
What to look for in the best electronic picture frames for families?
When you’re looking for a great electronic picture frame for families, Wi-Fi is the foundation. It’s arguably the most important feature and is the biggest separator between premium and budget frames. Wi-Fi enables features like cloud storage, mobile apps, a web dashboard, sending photos through email, saving pictures to and manage storage on the cloud, and much more. Wi-Fi also enables useful secondary features like web albums (photo albums linked from social media and photo-sharing sites), weather forecasts, alerts & reminders, radio & music, etc.
Closely tied in with Wi-Fi is cloud storage. You shouldn’t need to pay extra for cloud storage and it should be easy to access & control. Frames like the Pix-Star offer cloud storage for free on all their frames. Cloud compatibility often offers a remote-control feature that lets you remotely manage the frame’s settings, storage, and slideshows. While this isn’t nearly as common, it’s an extremely versatile feature for families.
You should be able to link all the frames in the family together and sync them up. This is offered on frames like the Pix-Star that let you control & manage up to 25 connected Pix-Star frames from a single user account. You can bulk link & sync web albums to all connected frames and even bulk manage slideshows & some settings. This means everybody in the family can see all the latest photos on their frames without needing to lift a finger. It’s worth noting that some frames like the Pix-Star offer a great deal of automation with their frames by letting you set them to automatically update linked web albums when new photos are added.
Finally, look for an electronic picture frame with a 4:3 display as it naturally & perfectly matches the 4:3 aspect ratio that most of our smartphones capture pictures in. This means that photos don’t need to be manually edited and cropped to other aspect ratios like 16:9 or 16:10. It avoids the frustrating issue of photos being boxed in by ugly black pillar bars, or being cropped/cut off & distorted. These are common issues with 16:9 and 16:10 displays. Learn more about electronic picture frames for grandparents here!
What are some best electronic picture frame setup tips?
If you’re going to wall-mount your electronic digital picture frame, make sure that you don’t block the USB/SD card ports and the power inlet. Check if the frame comes with dedicated hanging holes or a standard VESA mount. Frames like the Pix-Star come with both types and let you mount/hang the frame in either landscape or portrait.
If your frame doesn’t have either a standard VESA mount or hanging holes – but you still want to wall-mount it, you will need to make a DIY mounting frame. This is where you need to be careful to not block the USB/SD card ports or the power inlet. This is also important to note if you’re going to make a cutout in your wall for the frame to sit flush.
Make sure to register your frame on the web dashboard and/or mobile app. This only applies to frames that support these features. It’s usually a quick process and is done shortly after connecting the frame to Wi-Fi for the first time. It’s essential if you want full use of the frame’s features and to send pictures & other media from remote locations.
How to play videos on the best electronic picture frames?
With top frames like the Pix-Star, videos can be sent via the mobile app or by USB/SD card. Frames like the Pix-Star even let you include these videos into slideshows – with the option to mute them or play their sound through the inbuilt speakers or externally connected headphones or speakers. Note that almost all electronic picture frames have limits on the length of supported videos. Pix-Star lets you play video clips up to 2-minutes long (which is more than almost all other top frames). This video support feature is offered for free with Pix-Star’s frames. You have to pay for it with frames like the Skylight.
How to listen to music on the best electronic picture frames?
Music playback is a feature that’s not commonly offered – even among the top electronic picture frames. If the frame has inbuilt speakers, it’s a good sign that it supports music and audio playback. In some cases, you can connect to external speakers or headphones. This is usually done through the frame’s USB port or a 3.5mm audio jack port.
Frames like the Pix-star offer both inbuilt speakers and the ability to connect to external speakers or headphones/earphones. You can listen to audio messages, songs, web radio, and music. You can even play audio files over slideshows for an extra touch of personality.
